The present invention relates generally to the field of treatment for sports/medical injuries, and more specifically, to apparatus for selectively applying a hot/cold pack to the human anatomy and reliably retaining the hot/cold pack in position to maximize the desired therapeutic effect.
xe2x80x9cHotxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ccoldxe2x80x9d packs (hereinafter referred generically as xe2x80x9ccold packsxe2x80x9d) are well known and widely used to heat or cool injured body parts of the human anatomy as necessary to accelerate healing. More particularly, cold packs are conventionally employed for providing thermal therapeutic value to assist in healing of injuries suffered during exercise, sports or on-the-job activities, accidents, and under circumstances in which a muscle, ligament or tendon is sprained, torn or otherwise traumatized. Cold packs may also be applied, following a surgery or during physical rehabilitation, adjacent to the affected anatomical structure, to assist in healing of the affected body part.
However, under any of these circumstances, the prior art has attempted, but has insufficiently provided, an apparatus that reliably secures and retains an ice pack in a preselected position to maximize the desired therapeutic effect. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,003 to Meistrell discloses an ice-pack.retention device that includes two generally parallel, elongated legs for securing the ice pack to a limb or the like. However, the retention device of Meistrell fails to securely retain the ice pack in position due to the inherent instability of that design which allows for translational and rotational slippage along the limb, due in part to undesired stretchability of the flexible elongated legs.
The present invention is a joint-specific apparatus that reliably retains one or more cold packs in a preselected position adjacent an anatomical structure such as a limb or joint, or adjacent to an anatomical region, to maximize the desired therapeutic effect when that anatomical structure or region is cooled or heated. The apparatus in its various embodiments may be applied to the shoulder, elbow, wrist, back, hip, knee or ankle and simultaneously provides heating/cooling therapy in combination with a desired level of compression to the affected joint or region.